THE young Glenwood mother who was shot while trying to assist a hijacking victim in Morningside last month is finally on the road to recovery.
Stephanie Meyer was shot in the left arm by the hijackers at point blank range, which left her unable to work as a waitress or take care of her young baby, Amelia.
With no medical aid, she was rushed to a local government hospital where she was given painkiller injections as they immobilized her arm. Given no anaesthetic while they realigned the bone, Meyer said it “really was the worst pain” she had ever experienced. By mid-morning and still in excruciating pain, she was discharged from the hospital with painkillers and asked to return in a week so they could fit a permanent cast.
Stephanie lost confidence in the government healthcare system after her experience and she planned to get a loan to pay for private care, but the local community and Glenwood safety activist, Heather Rorick, came to her aid after hearing of her bravery and financial struggles.
When Stephanie’s story went viral, a reader managed to link the young mother with an exceptional orthopedic surgeon in Pietermaritzburg who agreed to assist her after looking at her x-rays.
Stephanie was booked in for surgery this week but the doctor told her, after seeing the damage, that even the unaffected bone has fractures running through it. “So he’ll also have to cut me open a bit wider than intended, about 10cms or so,” she told Berea Mail.
“The plate for my arm was flown in from Cape Town on Monday evening, I’m first in for surgery at 8am and the doctor said the damage is worse than he thought. I’m just grateful I got the opportunity to have the surgery done because it makes such a difference,” she said.
Upbeat ahead of her surgery, she said the doctor was confident healing should be able to start once the surgery wounds have started healing and the plate sets.
“Without the help of the community, and Dr Turino, I honestly think the outcome of this situation would have been much worse, I’m just grateful that I was blessed with the chance to receive the medical treatment necessary and to know that through everyone’s help in every way, big or small, I’m actually going to be okay.
“I’m just so happy, when I was first shot I never expected to actually be okay and that is a blessing, this feeling of relief is more than I could ask for,” she said after the surgery on Tuesday night.
